Startopia

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

General information

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM^{[Note 1]}. Removed in the official 1.01b patch, but still has a disc check.
GOG.com
Steam

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Rename .bik files in the installation folder^{[citation needed]}
Go to `Intro` in the installation folder. Delete or rename `eidos.bik` and `startopia.bik`

Patches

The 1.01 Patch updates the retail version of the game to the latest version.

The 1.01b Patch is merely an alternative to the 1.01 patch, in case you experience problems with it.

There is also the semi-official 1.02 Patch which requires either 1.01 or 1.01b to be installed already (it was created by a former Mucky Foot employee).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>/startopia.ini^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/243040/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>/Profiles^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/243040/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen		See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD		See the WSGF entry.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS

Input

In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Controlled via sliders.
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail version, download.
German				Retail version, download.
Italian				Retail version, download.
Spanish				Retail version, download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		4
Online play		4	GameSpy services have been shut down;^[3] see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Enable intro videos

Applies if Startopia isn't in the expected install path (as with the Steam distribution)

Edit configuration file^{[citation needed]}
Edit `<path-to-game>\startopia.ini` Under the `[Intro]` section, set `IntroPath=<path-to-game>\Intro\`. Trailing slash required.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95B	98, ME
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 450 MHz	Intel Pentium III AMD Athlon
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0a compatible	32 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Pricing | GameSpy Technology

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-4] 2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-5] 3.0 ^3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[4] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (243040) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[6] Pricing | GameSpy Technology

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[3]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Mucky Foot Productions
Publishers
Retail	Eidos Interactive
Original digital	Square Enix
Current digital	My Little Planet Ltd
Release dates
Windows	June 15, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	86